Vitus hembacher



(No Model.)

- V. HEMBAOHER.

' FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 542,641. Patented July 16, 1895.

NiTED STATES- PATENT OFFICE. I

VITUS I-IEMBACHER, OF FISOHACH, GERMANY.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,641, dated July 16,1895.

Application filed October 18, 1 8 94.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VITUS HEMBAOHER, a citizen of Germany, residing atFischach, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in life-saving devices orfire-escapes.

The object of my invention is to produce a device designed to be usedfor rescuing ones self or other persons,or for saving householdfurniture and the like during fires and similar dangers.

The invention'consists in such features, details of construction, andcombination of parts as will first be described in connection with inthe accompanying drawings, and then particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of a deviceembodying my improvement. Fig. 2 isa similar view taken at right anglesto Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the manner of using the device.

Referring to the drawings, a are two iron tracks, between which, at oneend, is a roller 0, movable upon a fixed axis 1). At the other end thetracks are joined by a cross-pin d, provided with an eye engaged by ahook e. Between the roller 0 and the tracks a are located two slidingtracks f of the same width as the tracks at, these sliding tracks fbeing provided with central slots, through'which pass studs g, securedin the tracks a, and provided with heads, as shown.

The tracks fare joined at the middle by an axle it, upon which isrevolubly mounted a shifting-roller c, the axle h being out of thecentral longitudinal axes of the sliding tracks f.

As the tracks f are free to move, the roller 0' can be brought nearer toor farther from the rollerc. The rescuing-rope 't' passes over therollers c o in S-fashion, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The end ofthe rope which passes over the lower roller is attached to a hook, whichmay be fastened to a suitable place, for instance, to the window-frame,as

shown in Fig. 3, while the longer end or fall,

Serial No, 526,290- (No model.)

after passing over the upper roller, reaches to the ground in the streetor yard, &c.

The article Z, Fig. 3, to be removed from the building is secured to thehook e and the hanging end of the rope 't' is held by a person on theground.

The weightof the load causes the lower roller 0' to be pressed againstthe upper roller 0, thus tending to clamp the rope 2' between the tworollers, whereby the load will not descend too rapidly. The rate atwhich the load descends may be regulated by the amount of strain uponthe lower end of the rope,agreat strain tending to crowd the rollerstogether and thus check the descentof the load, while a slight strain,or none at all, permits the rollers to separate, whereby the load fallsrapidly. By this means the danger of injuring the article by too rapid adescent or by striking the ground is avoided. When the load arrives atthe bottom the two rollers may be separated, whereupon the rope can bereadily withdrawn.

In rescuing persons the hook e is hooked into a ring on a belt placedabout the waist of the person, whereby such person, after swinging outfrom the window, may be lowered to theground in the same manner as theweight described above, so that he will not descend too rapidly orstrike the ground too hard.

If a person desires to rescue himself from a building with an apparatusconstructed in accordance with my invention he takes hold of the lowerpart of rope t', and after securing himself to the hook e, in anysuitable manner, lowers himself by alternately releasing his hold of therope with one hand and taking a fresh hold again a little farther down,just as if he were descending hand over hand down the rope. In doingthis, as his down-climbing action is more or less rapid, and as heallows the rope to pass through his hands more or less quickly, thedescent will be more or less rapid, for the reason that the pressureupon the two rollers will be greater or less.

The apparatus may be provided with a ring in place of the hook e andinstead of a. belt may have a basket attached to it.

On account of its simplicity this apparatus can be used by unskilledpersons and can also be used in places where'other apparatus could notbe used.

The chief advantage of the apparatus lies in its practical constructionand simplicity, on account of which the article or person to be rescueditself regulates the speed of descent to the earth. During the descentaslight pull on the rope will cause a halt. Insaving ones self or insaving others only a single-person is necessary. The device is suitablenot only for the use of firemen, but also for the inmates ing throughthe upper, slot in the slotted tracks, a roller mounted on said axle, a;pair of studs passing through the lower slots and fixed in the outertracks, and arope passing under the second roller, over the first rollerand thence to the ground, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a pair of tracks,

an axle connecting said tracks at the upper ends, across piececonnecting the lower ends of said tracks and provided with an eye, aroller journaled on the axle, and a hook device engaging the eye in thecross piece, of a pair of slotted sliding tracks, a roller journaledtherein, and a pair of studs passing through the slots in ,the slidingtracks and fixed into theothertracks, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence oftwowitnesses.

VITUS- HEMBACHER. Witnesses:

F. OBERNDORF,

WURSTERE

